Philadelphia Eagles: Malcolm Jenkins Protests, Philadelphia Listens

Last night before the Philadelphia Eagles game Malcolm Jenkins, Steven Means, and Ron Brooks raised their fists in support of Colin Kaepernick’s protest about racial inequality and police brutality.

Jenkins has been outspoken in his support of Kaepernick’s message but not his mode of protest so it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that he showed his support before the Philadelphia Eagles matchup against the Chicago Bears. Jenkins and the Philadelphia Eagles had discussed protesting during the season opener but decided to refrain from it due to gravity that already surrounds that day.

In his quote to Reuben Frank of CSN Philly prior to the game Jenkins said,

“Your goal is not to divide people but the goal is also not to beat around the bush. If it comes down to making somebody feel uncomfortable by speaking the truth, then I’d always make you uncomfortable with the truth than make you feel comfortable with a lie. It’s always a fine line to walk when you’re talking about a team atmosphere and making sure that your cognizant of the guys next to you, but at the same time, you know, this is bigger than football.”

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From that quote it’s pretty clear that Malcolm Jenkins had thought through both what he was doing as well as the reaction that it would cause. Calling this a protest may be a bit of an overstatement as this was more of a statement by Jenkins and co, athletes that want to use their platform to continue the discussion about these issues.

An article by Ian O’Connor of ESPN helped shed some light on the importance of their statement during the game. Jenkins and Brooks both have strong military connections quashing that this is a protest looking to disrespect the military. In fact, the way that they made their statement was in a way to make sure that it didn’t disrespect the anthem and what it stands for.

“I have the utmost respect for law enforcement and people who have put their lives on the line,” Brooks said. “And that will never change.”

Jenkins ran his plans past friends in the military and has also been in contact with the police commissioner of Philadelphia. When asked about the mode of his demonstration (not locking arms like some other teams have done) Jenkins said,

“It doesn’t address the actual issue, although it looks great because you’re all together, the honest truth is that some guys on the team actually don’t care about the issues, which is fine.”

“Whenever you talk about race or just anything to do with social injustice,” Jenkins said, “usually it’s a hard conversation to have. … A lot of arguments you hear is, ‘Do it on your own time. Do it in a different way.’ Well, the truth of the matter is, if you do it in a different way, that just allows you to ignore the issue.

“When you talk about real change, although a protest in itself doesn’t change anything, it forces people to talk about it and it tugs on the social conscience of the citizens. So that’s the biggest thing, how to get this topic in the minds of all those around the country and make them confront their own beliefs and thoughts and reasonings behind what they support and what they don’t. And usually, to do that, you have to disrupt something.”

While his statement got mixed reactions it was met with significant approval in Philadelphia.

This even crossed inter-division rivalry lines:

In the long run, however, the mode of Jenkin’s demonstration isn’t the point here. It’s the motives behind it that matter.  Jenkins is obviously standing up for something that he believes in and trying to use his platform as an athlete to raise awareness and spark a discussion on an issue that’s plaguing society.

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If after going through this, your argument is about the symbol of their raised fist or the fact that this demonstration took place during the national anthem then you’ve missed the point of the whole thing. This is a call to action.

A call to volunteer at your local PAL or rec center, a call to talk about the injustice in the world, a call to recognize that something is broken and needs to be fixed. Hopefully before long others will be able to see that part of the message to get away from how the demonstrations are happening and discuss the root of them. After all, isn’t that the point of this whole thing?